Version française
Version française
The famous story of the little girl of the mountains, who leads an idyllic existence with her grand father in a little Alpine village, until her Aunt Dette calls her back in Frankfort in order to take care of her education. She then meets little Clara, who is confined to an armchair for the rest of her life. Heidi has been used to living freely in the pastures and she will have a hard time adapting to her new existence in this inhospitable city, and to the severe governess Miss Rotenmeir
Personal comments:
Heidi has somehow revolutionised Japanese "children" animation. This series is indeed the first adaptation of a novel that could be considered to be a drama. It's also the first anime that tried first and above all to make the characters alive and to describe their everyday life with as much realism as possible, without being filled with humour or action. Nobody could imagine that the story of a little girl in the Alps could be such a success. However, Heidi's came instantaneously. The nowadays famous Science fiction series "Yamato / Spaceblazer", which used to be broadcasted at the same time slot was even stopped due to law ratings (everybody was watching "Heidi", you understand... ^_^). This triumph enabled the founding of Nippon Animation and of what would be soon called the "sekai meisaku gekijoo", it instaured Isao Takahata's realistic style, and above all, it opened new fields for animation. Now, people knew action scenes weren't necessary to make a successful anime, and people would less hesitate before making stories focused on the characters and their life.
To speak about the series itself, its technical qualities are good for an anime made in 1974. For a "modern viewer", the design seems a bit old fashioned, the animation isn't that smooth, but this is not overall annoying (Be careful: I only saw 2 episodes recently). Sadly, many in Europe thought differently: Heidi has been harshly criticised here for its "awful drawings" and its "horrible animation" that has been compared to Disney's (as if one could compare a TV series and an animated film!!!). The detractors of the series also said the Japanese had chosen a story that took place in Europe for marketing reasons, in order to enter our market: What ignorance again when you know how western novels are popular in Japan!
Heidi was first shown on TF1 in 1981. It was then re-broadcasted, but not as often as in most of the other European countries (the last airing took place during the Summer 2001 on satellite channel Teletoon). The French opening song is interpreted by Danielle Licari. Note that the melody is the same in the German and Italian songs.
The series was shown in Germany on ZDF, 3Sat and Kinderkanal and in Austria on ORF1. Heidi is still often on the air there: it was last broadcasted on ZDF in August 98, and then on Kinderkanal in November 98 and September 99. The German opening is sung by Gitti and Erika. It is available on a CD, with other German anime songs.
The series is often shown on the RAI networks (RAI UNO and RAI DUE). It last broadcasts took place in summer 98, three times in 1999 (!), twice in 2000, and in May - June 2001. The Italian version has an opening interpreted by Elisabetta Viviani.
After Tico, the group Neko Creations has decided to work on Heidi. As far as their site can tell, only the first episode is now available.
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Frédéric Goetzinger
(goetz@starnet.fr) Opening date: January 31, 1999 - last update: September 23, 2001